William Hawkins (1682–1750) was a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
and
serjeant-at-law, best known for his work on the
English criminal law, ''
Treatise of Pleas of the Crown''.
He graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts from Oriel College, Oxford in 1699 and was elected as a fellow of the same college in 1700. He is often confused with a contemporary William Hawkins of St John's College Cambridge, who became a prebend at St Paul's. He was admitted a member of the
Inner Temple on 10 February 1701. He became a serjeant-at-law on 1 February 1724. Among his clients was
Thomas Bambridge, the notoriously cruel warden of
Fleet Prison.
In addition to his ''Treatise of Pleas of the Crown'', he also published an abridgment of the first part of
Edward Coke
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
's ''
Institutes of the Lawes of England'' in 1711. This work ran through many editions, and was praised by
Blackstone in the ''
Commentaries on the Laws of England
The ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarendon Press at Oxford, 1765–1770. The work is divided into four volume ...
''.
The poet
William Hawkins was his son.
He died in Hornchurch, Essex on 19 February 1750, leaving lands in London and Islip, Oxfordshire.
[National Archives P.C.C. Wills, Greenly 47-93, PROB11/777/228 Will of William Hawkins Serjeant at Law https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D3366034]
Notes
References
*
;Attribution
1673 births
1746 deaths
Serjeants-at-law (England)
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
English legal writers
Members of the Inner Temple
{{UK-law-bio-stub